A massive hoard of coins from the Iron Age, similar to these, were found by two metal detector enthusiasts in Jersey after a search that spanned 30 years.

Credit:

FRED TANNEAU

Reg Mead and Richard Miles, a pair of metal detector enthusiasts from Jersey, in the United Kingdom, struck the proverbial gold when they found a massive hoard of Iron Age coins.

According to BBC, the pair's search lasted over 30 years, because they only had a rough location to search for the coins. The owner of the field also only allowed them to look for a short span of time each year, after the crop was harvested.

Mead and Miles found up to 50,000 silver and bronze coins, which are still clumped in a massive block of soil, according to the Guardian. After their initial find of 60 coils earlier this year, they finally uncovered the main hoard.

According to the Guardian, the coins are believed to be from Armorica, modern Brittany and Normandy, buried around the time when Caesar was invading Gaul. Some of the coins date back to the 1st century B.C. and have lain buried for more than 2,000 years, said The Sun.

Each of the coins is thought to be worth between £100 and £200.

According to the BBC, Mead said the woman who told him about the coins was a farmer's daughter. He said, "She told me that in the bottom was an earthenware pot and it shattered all over the field on a very muddy winter's day and there were silver coins everywhere."

Apparently, the farmer and daughter filled some on a small potato sack and ploughed the rest into the ground. Mead said, "When she described them we knew they were Iron Age. I told Richard and we have been searching hard all that time but have only just got to that spot," according to the BBC.

By law, the treasure belongs to the Queen, said ITV. Richard Falle, Trove Lawyer, said, "In England there is a best practice whereby people are rewarded for reporting and they will properly by statute be given the value. In Jersey, one is hoping the Crown would do the right thing."

Here is a video report on the find from Reuters, courtesy of AOL:

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